The Mic Drop

Ed Purnell and Ben Brookes

Music, Franchising and Waffle

  1. 5d ago

    Ep37 - Squirrel Lights, Lego Queues and Happy Metal that made Ed sad

    Christmas is already creeping in. Ben has strong views on anyone who puts their tree up before December. Ed wants to know who outdoor lights are actually for, because in his cul-de-sac it seems to be the squirrels. There’s also a Halloween party of five, and some candy sticks that are only spooky because the packet says so. Then the big question: Why did five hundred people queue for a Lego shop in Norwich? It leads to a debate about old school versus new. You’ll hear about a CV that arrived with a KitKat, a sales model from 1898 that sounds like a Sesame Street character, and Ricky Gervais’s genius approach to selling vodka. Ben’s massage therapist delivers some brutal news about his phone habit, and Ed relives the most terrifying neck crack of his life. Music this week goes heavy. One track blends metal with full hands-in-the-air dance vibes. The other is an eight-minute journey through what the internet calls “happy metal”, and it somehow made Ed sad. Tracks of the Week:ED: North Lane - Deathwishhttps://open.spotify.com/track/0ZvGajFnTQtEAyKNjqt982BEN: I Built the Sky - The Long Gamehttps://open.spotify.com/track/1YjmzyP8fpPMLCPdEk5RUR?si=13a8deb803cc4945 MIC DROPS: Ed: You can’t please all of the people all of the time. Pick a lane and stick to it, and the right people will follow. Ben: New isn’t always better. Don’t forget what made people fall for you in the first place. Sometimes the simple stuff still works best. BEN’s LINKS: Korn - Y’all Want a Singlehttps://open.spotify.com/track/1AzMYJm6qTAullM3UKuPY9?si=19b662db31e74a67 Ren - The Music Business https://open.spotify.com/track/7qvbAfRikYwB7YYfTkUrdG?si=3a9790f085b44d22

  2. Oct 20

    Ep36 - Pokémon Go for Grown-Ups, Urinal Cakes & the Kids Who Can’t Talk

    Ed and Ben are back, and something strange is happening. Ben has started lurking in the woods on his lunch break, phone held out and sandwich in hand, hunting things he can’t always see. Ed thinks it’s creepy. Ben says it’s changed his life. It also leads to a business idea Ben is convinced will make them millionaires. It’s a gadget every franchise discovery day will dread, and Ed isn’t entirely sold. Then there’s the Hyde Park story Ed has been sitting on for years. It involves a very drunk man, a urinal and a moment of confusion that’s burned into Ed’s memory for good. Did you know it’s apparently the thing pubs lose most often? Nobody can work out why. Things take a turn when Ed’s son gets his 11+ results. In a world where AI can answer anything, do grades still matter? And if they don’t, what on earth should kids be learning? Ben’s answer starts with a lawnmower and ends with him stuck with his finger in a live mains water pipe. Ed comes back from the Performing in Life studio with a word he’d never heard before and a worrying reason why today’s kids are losing the ability to talk to each other. Plus the one dinner-table question that gets anyone talking, and the cold-call opener so honest that Ben actually stayed on the line. TRACKS OF THE WEEK Ed: Mama, My Heart Is Aching by Girl in the Year Above - https://open.spotify.com/track/6tVk7AVFvAa5oSj2YEoB6W?si=6fd0fb736f3f4458 Ben: Honesty by Paper Skies feat. Dr. Mad & Zoe Starra - https://open.spotify.com/track/3v0pGqC7mokBPzzov3bZaJ?si=691362e2a39e4c9a Mic Drops: Ben says get out and touch some grass. Ed says children (or possibly robots) are our future, so teach them how to talk to each other.

  3. Sep 30

    Ep35 - AI Fatigue, The Great Filter & Ben's Big Hand

    Season two kicks off with weird weather, wasp warfare and Manchester City’s ongoing financial saga, before Ben and Ed discover that Mic Drop has somehow found an audience in Vietnam. From there, things get considerably more existential: the Fermi Paradox, the Great Filter, whether AI could be humanity’s downfall, and what happens to jobs, trust and human connection as AI becomes part of everyday life. Plus, AI fatigue, ChatGPT ads, the changing face of SEO and why sometimes it might be better to just unplug for a bit. TRACK OF THE WEEKBen: Keith by Playlunch - https://open.spotify.com/track/4Jw5EpH27DZLcnKrITo7en?si=cd2f64a7c02f4cdaEd: Vamanos by Duty Moonshine Big Band - https://open.spotify.com/album/3sesZPrwwlYSchYYewtxWn?si=aa2c114a24444d97

  4. Jun 26

    Ep34 - Cornwall Is Hotter Than Bangkok

    Ed and Ben are back, back again, and it's too hot to function. Ben has the weather stats to prove just how unhinged this heatwave actually is, including one number involving Cornwall and Bangkok that will make you feel significantly worse about your commute. There's a deep dive into why you can't cool down, a ranked breakdown of cooling techniques (spluting, death shrouding, and the warm drink debate all feature), and the news that a famous Parisian landmark is currently six inches taller than it should be. Ed's been busy on the franchise trail and Ben nearly had a very exciting van encounter. Music this week goes full summer vibes. One track comes with a backstory so wild it deserves its own podcast, and the other is built on a 1964 Mariachi sample that has absolutely no right sounding this good in a heatwave. They also stumble across possibly the most unlikely festival act in existence. Tracks of the Week:🎵 R.L. Burnside - Someday Baby https://open.spotify.com/track/5ZBUC1YafitJgLt8dgZYTW?si=39689685d34b4c55🎵 Delinquent Habits - Return of the Trey https://open.spotify.com/track/5qVF2rEf75oPrZHhmZmDKk?si=3a8f1ea648e248d4 Mic Drops: Ed: It's never too late...to change your music taste or to find success. Just keep going, stay cool, you'll get there. Ben: Slow down and enjoy the heat. Our European cousins have had this figured out for years. Accept you won't be moving as fast or doing as much and just enjoy it. We don't get it often. Make the most of it. BEN's LINKS: Empty again!

  5. Jun 24

    Ep33 - Ben's Destroyed Thumb, Rowing on an Escalator & The Principality of Sealand

    They're back. There's been a gap because Ben went to the Pyrenees and came home with a written-off bike and a thumb that doesn't bend like it once did. Ed has Scotland in the sweepstake and is genuinely optimistic about this. We get into: The 2026 World Cup and why forty-eight teams takes all the jeopardy out of itA Cape Verde player who ignored a LinkedIn message for a year and ended up at the World CupNorway fans acting like Vikings on an escalatorWhy football is basically religion and why that's actually also a franchise modelBen's holiday: mountains, a drone, a van, a taxi, a bus, a hire car, a thousand kilometres to Calais, and sitting on a bag on the back of someone else's bikeGemini as a translator when neither party speaks the same language in the Spanish mountainsThe Principality of Sealand: sovereign nation, own currency, size of a shed Tracks of the Week:🎵 Tiptoeing — Senses ("emo friendly and punk curious") 🎵 Playing God — Motionless in White feat. Corey Taylor (Ben music. Goosebumps. You'll see.) https://open.spotify.com/track/6EbyODHz4Pn3rkQXiMg1TQ?si=da0ba90c727a4fb0 Mic Drops: Treat your work like a community. If it doesn't feel like one, find one that does.Read your messages. Cape Verde might be calling.

  6. May 22

    Ep32 - The Birthday Paradox

    It's a Birthday Special! Ben took last week off because it was his birthday and he simply wasn't coming in, and Ed's turn was just around the corner. Things get philosophical via shuffleboard, balloon breath, and the maths that will ruin your next house party. Ben kicks things off with a birthday revelation that hits harder than expected: there will be a last time you pick up your kids, and he found out on his birthday, so naturally he immediately went and picked up his 14-year-old. From there the guys dig into the surprisingly deep history of birthdays, from pharaohs becoming gods in ancient Egypt to the Romans gatekeeping celebrations to adult men only, and the Germans finally letting kids join the party in the 19th century. Ed drops the copyright bombshell on Happy Birthday To You, a song that cost $25 million to acquire, earned Warner Music $2 million a year, and explains why every restaurant chain has their own weird version. It was also the first song ever sung in space, which almost (almost) changes Ben's mind about it. Ben introduces the birthday paradox and Ed doesn't believe it. Ben's maths teachers brother has the workings on a piece of paper somewhere. There's also: why we celebrate the wrong person on birthdaysthe Mexican cake face-slam traditionbirthday cards going straight to the junk drawerand whether the Wigan Warriors "you want some?" bloke has a Cameo. Track of the Week: Ben - Dammit by Alexandra Kaye (originally Blink-182) - https://open.spotify.com/track/0fQIh3kxy3MeDDuHuJMEXN?si=f752665c144d4f7d Ed - Happy Birthday Ben! - EPIC Happy Birthday Song by Epic Happy Birthdays - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7zzD5q4YpU&list=RDZ7zzD5q4YpU&start_radio=1 BEN'S LINKS: The History of Birthdays - Article - https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/birthday Warner Music - Official Site - https://www.warnermusic.com

  7. May 6

    Ep31 - Trust Gaps, Attention Spans & the 2 Bike Splits

    Ed and Ben are back, and this week things get philosophical - via afternoon tea, motorcycle mishaps, and the furthest humanity has ever travelled from Earth. Ben's suspension saga takes an unexpected turn when a moment of impatience leads him to buy a second motorbike he didn't need, which kicks off a brilliant conversation about how our shrinking attention spans are fundamentally changing the way we make decisions, consume content, and engage with brands. From the three-second rule for video to the F-shaped reading pattern, the guys dig into what it actually means to capture and keep someone's interest in 2026. Ed introduces his concept of the Trust Gap and explains why most franchise brands are essentially asking prospects to go on a blind date. Spoiler: they won't show up. There's also: subtitles vs. dubbing, why we love lawns (it's evolution), Artemis 2's broken toilet, a full bladder as a productivity tool, and Ben's son's name going around the moon. Tracks of the Week:Ed - Venom by Wind Waker https://open.spotify.com/track/6Yj0FdKYs2qgDunRV8AW3t?si=559c946693704454 Ben Masters of War by Grandson (originally Bob Dylan, 1963) https://open.spotify.com/track/0EJlSUNoYL931cYAQspN5i?si=e7173fc80f744e1b

  8. Apr 24

    Ep30 - Vibe Coding, Moral Narcolepsy & Angine De Poitrine

    They're back! Three weeks late, zero apologies. The clocks have changed, Ben's been angry about it ever since, and Ed offloaded his kids on the in-laws and had a lovely time. We get into: Ed's webinar on franchise recruitment in the AI era and why brands are losing prospects they don't even know they hadBen's vibe-coded CRM that turned 10 leads into 4 meetings (and what that says about attention spans)Why AI might be doing to music what cameras did to painting - hello cubism, goodbye chord shapesAngine de Poitrine: microtonal alien jazz from Quebec that means "chest pain." Which tracks.Enter Shikari's new album and the concept of "moral narcolepsy" (look it up, it's brilliant)President live at the LCR, £45 merch, and a support act dressed like Squid GameSnake jazz. Don't ask. Just listen. TRACKS OF THE WEEK Ed: SARNIEZZ by Angine de Poitrine - https://open.spotify.com/track/6iDKiCR13L8Ba6bkK6cqqt?si=0f636791bca146e9 Ben: The Flick of a Switch I. by Enter Shikari - https://open.spotify.com/track/6sZQXNlRl4GRKhopNSD3pO?si=3a5a77d2343c438d

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About

Music, Franchising and Waffle

Information

  • Creator
    Ed Purnell and Ben Brookes
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ed Purnell and Ben Brookes
  • Show Website
    The Mic Drop